From unfair prices to unfair trading practices: Political economy, value chains and 21st century agri‐food policy

Abstract

This paper analyzes how value chains play a role in the political economy of agricultural and food policy by (1) discussing historical insights; (2) reviewing an emerging literature on political economy of trade policy and value chains and drawing implications for agricultural and food policy; (3) discussing market power issues with increasing concentration in agri-food value chains and its implications for government regulations; and (4) presenting a political economy case study of recent regulations that have explicitly targeted value chain structures in the agrifood sector: the EU regulations on "unfair trading practices (UTPs)". The case study is of wider relevance since it addresses a key concern in global value chains.

Dynamic Impacts of External Uncertainties on the Stability of the Food Supply Chain: Evidence from China

“…Reasons include the high level of consumer confidence and expectation, and the depreciation of CNY exchange rate. Therefore, strong demand in both domestic and international markets significantly increased PAPP [ 84 ].…”

Farming with forages can reconnect crop and livestock operations to enhance circularity and foster ecosystem services

“…Policies may be easier and more efficient when dealing with fewer farms, especially when ignoring the indirect costs of this specialization on human health, environmental pollution and ecological integrity. In Europe, agri‐food industries may lobby against policies of which they disapprove, for example to improve animal welfare or environmental integrity (Swinnen et al, 2021), and may even threaten to relocate their operations elsewhere. When faced with public recognition and demand for pollution control from confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), large industrial farms often react with even greater specialization and techno‐engineering solutions.…”

Do producer organizations improve trading practices and negotiation power for dairy farms? Evidence from selected EU countries

“…In 2017, there were around 3400 recognized POs in the EU: 52% were active in the fruit and vegetable sector and 9% in milk and dairy products (European Commission, 2018a). More recently, complaints about power imbalances and unfair trading practices (UTPs) in the agricultural sector resulted in the adoption of Directive (EU) 2019/633 on UTPs (European Commission, 2021a), which specifically focuses on imbalances in bargaining power in agricultural supply chains (EU, 2019; Swinnen et al., 2021).…”